Merry Christmas to all...

Santa through the years

Ava with Santa in 2004

Madison and Ava with Santa in 2005

Madison, Ava, and Leila with Santa in 2006

Ava and Leila with Santa in 2007

Believe it or not, I am going to be sad once all the kids are over being scared of Santa. These pictures just make me laugh so hard everytime I see them. It just isn't a Santa picture without at least one screaming kid.

Her first recital!

Ava had her very first dance recital this morning. She woke up all excited for her big day. I meticulously got her dressed, shellacked her hair, and prettied her already gorgeous face. She could not wait to get to her dance studio.

Once we got there, I took her into the dressing area to put her in her beautifully hand-made costume. It is a beaded corset top with and flirty little tutu that she could not have been more precious wearing. This thing is exquisite. I plan to shadow box it for her room after her spring recital is over.

After getting her dressed, we headed to our seats to wait for the show to begin. It was a very small recital for the youngest dancers in the studio. The four year olds and up all do a big production of The Nutcracker at a local high school the weekend prior to the younger girls' recital.

After watching a small piece preformed by three of the older students, it was time for Ava to make her debut. She climbed up onto the stage and prepared to take her spot. She made her way over only to find another dancer mistakenly standing there. Now, if you know Ava, she is very particular about things being exactly right. She immediately realized her friend was in her spot. She lets out this giant whine that I hear over and over throughout any given day. I was so afraid the next level of frustration would be soon to follow. Meaning, she would begin to sob about her spot being taken. I quickly shot her a "Oh, don't you dare even think about crying!" look as her dance teacher quickly rushed over to diffuse the situation by directing the girls to their correct spot.

Finally, they began their dance. It started as you would expect first-time little dancers to react when forced onto a stage in front of a hundred staring audience members. Girls missed their cues and forgot choreography. At one point, the girls pair up with one another. Ava's partner turned to the wrong person, though, leaving her all alone. I almost broke down in tears seeing her standing there because I knew she was really upset that the other dancer messed her up. I thought she was about to lose it, too. Suddenly, the other dancer that had been left all alone ran over to pair up with her. Whew...disaster averted!

The rest of the dance went off with your typical recital mishaps. Girls still distracted, falling, etc. It was about as precious as it gets with them.

Here is the video of the entire thing! She is the third from the left if you can't tell.

Santa's Monster Truck?

So, I was up late chatting with some friends online and then got sucked into watching Sid and Nancy on IFC until close to 1:30am. Daniel still was not home, so I just decided to hit the sack alone.

I was asleep all of 10mins when my cell started ringing. It was Daniel asking if I was still up. I groaned that I was just falling asleep. He tells me he is on his way home, and I would want to be up to see him pull in. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I know he is serious when he says things like this. He tells me he will be home in 15mins, so to get up and be outside by then.

So, I drag my butt out of bed, get dressed, and went to wait at the door. I was waiting and waiting with all kinds of thoughts running through my head as to what this could possibly be. I was hoping he was surprising me with a new car, but I knew that would be impossible. One can only hope, right?

Anyway, so a few minutes go by and I hear MONSTER truck sounds coming from the main neighborhood street right behind ours. I was thinking WTH is someone doing driving like that at nearly 2am in a residential area. All of a sudden, Daniel comes whipping around the bend on our street with this monster truck following close behind. All I can think is WTH has he been up to, and who the hell are these people following him.

Daniel pulls into the driveway, and the truck backs in behind him. These strange guys jump out and open the truck bed and start pulling out this giant box. I have NO IDEA what is in the box until they sit it upright. It was Ava's Barbie Jammin' Jeep!

Apparently, Daniel had a phenomenal night at work and decided to pick up the car from Walmart on his way home. He bought it and took it out to the car only to discover there was no possible way to get it in the back of our Mazda3. He sees this giant truck parked near him and starts asking around for who it belongs to. He finds these young guys and offers to pay them $25 to bring it home for him. They agreed--obviously!

Now, we have this giant box on our garage floor with the paint drop cloth barely covering it. Of course, Ava immediately noticed it this morning and asked what that was. I told her it is a moving box that we covered up because we are painting the garage soon. Please pray she doesn't try to uncover it within the next week.

Dear Santa...

We have been a little slow on mailing off the girls' Christmas lists this year. We finally made them out last night to mail off this morning. They were in an unsealed envelope on the kitchen counter waiting to go out.

Well, I woke up a little early this morning (before Ava could come wake me up). I got dressed and left my bedroom only to run right into Ava Grace. I quickly realized why she had not gotten me up yet. Apparently, her project was causing her a bit of trouble.

She had stuffed every small stuffed animal she owns into her clothes. As she was waddling down the stairs, they were falling out from the bottom of her shorts left and right. This was causing a fair amount of frustration on her end while I was trying to contain my overwhelming need to burst into laughter.

She looks up at me all desperate and says, "Mommy, did you mail my Santa letter?" I told her that I was going to put it in the mail today. She then smiles and says, "Can we add a sling to it before?".

Of course, I immediately went and added it to her list. I also placed an order for a matching child sized Hotsling like I have.

Ava's Pixie Land Party

We celebrated Ava's 4th birthday on Sunday with a very girlie party at a little boutique in Sugar Land called Fancy That. I am so impressed with what a fabulous birthday party they throw there for girls of every age. I swear, we all needed a shot of testosterone as we left the party. It could not get any more girlie than that.

Ava had a Pixie Land party that included pixie costumes, jewelry, fancy up-do, make-up, a pixie ceremony with magical fairy dust, and cake with pink lemonade in champagne glasses. The girls helping with the party did such a amazing job of pampering each Pixie Princess. I think we had five little girls just fluttering around for an hour and a half. It was just a magical time, and I am so glad we could do this for Ava. I would highly recommend this place for any of you looking to throw a fantastic birthday party for your little girl.

Here are some of the many, many pics I took. I swear this was the best party because I didn't do anything but take pictures. LOVE IT!

Four years ago today...

...I started out on my adventure into motherhood. Ava Grace was delivered via c-section weighing only 6lbs 2oz. Today, she weighs nearly 32lbs. Over the course of the past four years, she has taught me so much about who I am and what I stand for in the little time she has been here. She is just an amazing spirit that I was not sure I was ready for at the time. Now, I know that she is precisely what I was meant to do and be. She made me a mother. While it should be a day that she is thankful for her gifts, it is a day that I am thankful for the greatest gift. I am so proud to call her my daughter. I can not wait to celebrate more birthdays with her and watch her grow into the amazing woman I know that she will become.